St Helens have finally submitted a planning application for the new stadium they have been working towards for the best part of a decade, and hope to leave their 116-year-old home at Knowsley Road at the end of the 2009 season for a new £25m, 18,000-capacity, "halo-shaped" venue on the site of an old glass factory.

"We have a long and proud history as one of the greats in our sport and this stadium will also secure our future as such," said the Saints chairman, Eamonn McManus.